Maintaining the Dignity of the Female Supporting Character

Chapter 14

Wen Shuangmu stayed up all night reading a novel, and dozed off through two morning classes. During the long break, she went downstairs to the coffee bar to buy an iced latte to revive herself.

As she reached the second-floor staircase, her Chinese teacher Liang Jie was leaning halfway out of the office doorway, seemingly talking to someone inside. Spotting Wen Shuangmu passing by, she excitedly waved her over: "Shuangmu, come here for a moment. Help Zhili carry the Chinese resource books to the classroom."

Wen Shuangmu slowly swallowed her mouthful of latte and replied, "Oh, coming."

She tucked her cup back into the takeout bag and walked towards the office.

The resource books were a special feature designed by the Chinese teaching group, with the school campus scenery printed on the cover. The inside was clearly divided into sections, forming a thick volume used for accumulating argumentative essay materials from freshman to senior year.

Xia Zhili was standing next to Liang Jie's desk, presumably intending to carry the resource books to the classroom by herself. She was holding a tall stack that almost obscured her vision.

Xia Zhili must have heard Liang Jie calling Wen Shuangmu's name, as she didn't seem too surprised when Wen entered. She just softly apologized, "They might be a bit heavy..."

Wen Shuangmu's face remained expressionless as usual. She stepped forward and took most of the books from Xia Zhili's arms, saying, "Can you manage the rest?"

"Mm-hmm," Xia Zhili nodded.

As they walked out together, Xia Zhili glanced at Wen Shuangmu and said, "You don't look too well."

"Yeah, I didn't sleep well last night."

However, at this moment, rather than feeling tired, Wen Shuangmu was more exasperated by the task Wu Xiaoqi had just assigned her when Liang Jie called her over.

[Side quest triggered: Gain the teacher's favor.]

[Target: Chinese teacher Liang Jie.]

[Current favor progress: 6/10]

[Final reward: 5 points.]

"So why do I need to gain the Chinese teacher's favor? Why should I care what the teacher thinks of me?" Wen Shuangmu thought.

"Host, your perspective is too narrow," Wu Xiaoqi assumed a profound air. "Even a small Chinese teacher can reflect a world's outlook and values. Don't you find it strange, Host? Despite your top-notch grades and abilities, Liang Jie, as both the homeroom teacher and Chinese teacher, only sees the obedient, model student Xia Zhili. We villains often have our fates eroded starting from these inconspicuous details. As the saying goes, 'see the big from the small.' In the short term, it might just be the teacher's bias, but in the future, it could affect both career and love. Despite being equally outstanding, the protagonist can gain halos that we villains cannot. Therefore, if we want to change the future, we must start by changing these details."

Wen Shuangmu was someone who didn't care about teachers' opinions. In her previous life, she rarely interacted with teachers.

But because of Wu Xiaoqi's speech, when Liang Jie called her over just now, she inexplicably agreed.

"So," Wen Shuangmu stared at the motionless progress bar, enunciating each word, "I've done the chores, I've helped out, why hasn't the favor value changed at all?"

"Although Host's Chinese subject performance wasn't great in the class placement exam, your overall grades were excellent. As the homeroom teacher, Liang Jie has a good initial impression of you, hence the relatively high starting favor value. In comparison, such small favors don't easily cause emotional fluctuations. Host needs to think of ways to make further efforts in other aspects."

The corridor was bustling during the break. Wen Shuangmu pondered countermeasures as she and Xia Zhili carried the books up to the third floor, one hugging the wall, the other the railing.

Amidst the noisy chatter, Wen Shuangmu almost immediately caught the familiar voice floating down from above. Her eyelids involuntarily lifted slightly.

Su Qiyan was coming down from the third floor, talking sideways to Li Maozhen behind him. The two must have been discussing something funny, as Li Maozhen laughed and gave Su Qiyan a push.

Wen Shuangmu seemed to anticipate what was about to happen. She opened her mouth but didn't manage to prevent it in time.

Xia Zhili, at the corner, didn't expect the boys two steps above to suddenly push each other and squeeze down without looking. She couldn't dodge in time. With a twist of her wrist, there was a series of thuds as the resource books in her arms fell to the ground.

"Sorry."

Su Qiyan turned his body and, even in his hasty stumble, managed to quickly grab the girl's wrist, preventing her from falling down the stairs.

Wen Shuangmu didn't know what Su Qiyan was feeling at this moment. In her view, the brief two-second interval wasn't enough time for emotional reactions. But in the fleeting moment when they steadied themselves and Su Qiyan's gaze swept across Xia Zhili's face, Wen Shuangmu clearly saw something different in his eyes.

It was a momentary "rush" that childhood friends couldn't bring.

Quick, impactful, stumbling, crashing.

Since her rebirth, Wen Shuangmu had imagined many times how the collision between Su Qiyan and Xia Zhili would occur.

What captured his heart should have been the most unique, dazzling, full of temptation, something that outshone her brilliance.

So how could it be such an ordinary moment?

She and Xia Zhili wore the same school uniforms, tied the same ponytails.

Just as she could spot him at a glance among all the uniformed crowds, he only saw Xia Zhili in the crowd, with bioelectricity crackling between them.

She was like someone standing in the audience, watching from afar.

And she had gotten so close to him.

Yet he couldn't see her.

Li Maozhen bounded down the stairs in a few steps.

"Sorry, Xia classmate, I didn't notice you just now."

His tone was casual and lively.

The suffocating air that Wen Shuangmu felt slowly cleared and began to flow.

Xia Zhili seemed surprised that he knew her surname but didn't say anything, just softly replied "It's okay" before crouching down to clean up the mess.

Li Maozhen and Su Qiyan both helped. Su Qiyan stacked the scattered resource books into a pile, but instead of returning them to Xia Zhili, he picked them up and asked, "Are these going to the classroom?"

"Ah, yes." Xia Zhili was stunned, her hand still suspended in mid-air, seemingly wanting to take the books back but not knowing how. "Um, I can manage it myself, please give them to me."

Su Qiyan showed no intention of letting go: "Let's go."

Xia Zhili seemed a bit at a loss. She could only look towards Wen Shuangmu and softly say, "Then let me carry some for you..."

It was as if Su Qiyan and Li Maozhen only then noticed that someone had been standing silently at the corner of the busy stairway all this time.

Su Qiyan only made eye contact with Wen Shuangmu for a moment before casually looking away.

In contrast, it was Li Maozhen who looked embarrassed.

Seeing Su Qiyan still holding Xia Zhili's books, he feared the young miss might feel possessive. He inconspicuously stepped forward to block the view and said, "Oh, Sister Shuangmu, you're here too. Are the books heavy? Let me help you carry them."

Li Maozhen tried to create an atmosphere of ordinary classmates helping each other, but Wen Shuangmu was unusually emotionless. She just raised her chin, dropped a "No need," and walked up the stairs alone.

Many students were leaning against the corridor chatting during the break. The four of them walked to Class 2 in a staggered formation, but all in uniform silence.

Wu Xiaoqi, as the system most sensitive to the subtle emotional fluctuations in Wen Shuangmu's heart, kept quiet for a long time but still couldn't help speaking up: "Host, have you ever considered giving up?"

Wu Xiaoqi had been bound to many hosts before. They were much quicker to understand emotions, and basically all fell out of love with the male lead after rebirth, running off to heal other admirers who had silently devoted themselves in the background but were overlooked and ignored due to youthful ignorance in their previous lives.

And their admirers were often very capable, with quite strong villain settings - sickly and gloomy, but with abilities no less than the male lead. This way, they could easily make the original female lead jealous and regretful, and the original male lead angry and unwilling, thus achieving the goal of breaking them up.

This method caused the least harm and brought more pleasure to oneself.

As a system, it shouldn't interfere too much with the host's choices, but Wu Xiaoqi couldn't help seriously discussing the possibilities of other methods with Wen Shuangmu.

However, Wen Shuangmu directly interrupted: "Stop talking. I don't like hearing these things."

She then changed the subject and started to pursue: "You said you'd give me hints at key plot points, but what were you doing just now when Su Qiyan and Xia Zhili bumped into each other?"

Wu Xiaoqi immediately swallowed the suggestion she was about to make and said awkwardly, "Well, that was just an ordinary bump in daily life. The real turning point for Su Qiyan and Xia Zhili actually happens after school this afternoon. That's when their interactions truly start to increase." An ordinary bump.

Wen Shuangmu pressed her lips together, recalling the fleeting glance between Su Qiyan and Xia Zhili when they collided.

That was far from ordinary.

"I want to unlock a chapter," Wen Shuangmu said.

Wu Xiaoqi swiftly adjusted settings, using 5 points to purchase a plot unlock card for the host, then displayed the pixelated chapter in front of Wen Shuangmu: "This event spans a longer chapter, containing two parts. Take a look and decide which section you want."

Before Wen Shuangmu could consider, she suddenly felt the weight in her hands lighten as she walked.

She paused, looking up.

Lu Jing was holding a stack of material notebooks, his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a red string tied around his wrist bone, his forearms strikingly pale.

He hefted the stack, saying, "This is heavy. Where should I put it?"

Wen Shuangmu took a second to respond, her fingertips gradually regaining feeling after being numbed by the heavy weight. She realized Lu Jing had taken the notebooks from her hands.

She said, "The podium, please."

Lu Jing nodded.

Wen Shuangmu stared at his retreating back for a moment before continuing to walk.

Wu Xiaoqi wasn't sure if it was appropriate to interject at this moment, sensing the host's earlier urgency. After some hesitation, she reminded, "Have you decided which section to choose, host?"

Wen Shuangmu blinked, shifting her gaze from Lu Jing and recalling Wu Xiaoqi's earlier words.

Although yesterday's chapter selection was a mistake, for a major event spanning two consecutive chapters, choosing the end of the first chapter couldn't go wrong.

Without much deliberation, Wen Shuangmu decided, "I want the last two hundred words of Chapter Four."

"Understood."

The pixelation cleared, revealing a passage of text before Wen Shuangmu's eyes.

["Zhou Yu, this girl isn't your girlfriend, so stop meddling in our business."

"What now, little one? Have you figured out how to escape?" Zhou Yu asked with a lazy smile, calmly facing the dozen or so men armed with clubs, showing no sign of unease or embarrassment.

Xia Zhili bit her lip, her eyes glistening with angry tears, her expression defiant.

Zhou Yu stared at her smooth, snow-white cheeks, feeling a tingling sensation. He thought a gentle pinch would surely leave a mark.

He bent down close to Xia Zhili's ear, blowing softly on the stray hairs by her neck, his voice clearly teasing as he enunciated each word:

"Want to be big brother's girlfriend? Big brother will help you."]